The Air Force's Wright Laboratory plans a $6.2 million effort to identify and test technologies that will enhance the survivability of special operation and transport aircraft by lowering their signatures or raising their ability to withstand battle damage.
Despite his new responsibilities as chairman of the House Budget Committee and point man in the Republican battle to win a balanced budget constitutional amendment, a cornerstone of the Republican "Contract With America," Rep. John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) said Friday he will play an active role this year opposing any attempt to build more than 20 B-2 stealth bombers. "No, I won't be too busy to be involved in the B-2 issue this year," he told the DAILY in an interview.
TRW Systems Engineering and Development Div. in Carson, Calif., on Friday won a $282.8 million contract to develop interim, or "applique," hardware and to integrate software for the Army's digitization program. The equipment, to be installed first in Army ground combat and combat support equipment, will provide situational awareness and operational control. The work is to be finished by May 1, 2000.
French airworthiness officials lifted their flight restrictions on autopilot use in ATR-42 and -72 twin-turboprop commuter planes Friday, replacing them with new operating procedures identical to those proposed by the Avions de Transport Regional consortium to U.S. air safety officials and still pending in the U.S.
Daimler Benz wants to start partnerships between its aerospace businesses-until recently collectively known as Deutsche Aerospace-and big Indian companies, says Daimler chief Edzard Reuter. During a trip to a business conference in Calcutta, Reuter reveals Daimler's plans to open an office in New Delhi within a few months, which will serve as the jumping-off point for exploring the range of possible tie-ups. India's aerospace market is "open to challenge and progressive in outlook," Reuter says.
Defense Secretary William Perry says he "welcomes the spirit" of a bill introduced last week by Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (Kan.) to repeal the War Powers Resolution. The Peace Powers Act of 1995 also requires the president "in every possible instance" to consult with Congress before deploying troops, but it imposes "significant new limits" on peacekeeping policies as well, Dole says. The legislation would limit the placement of U.S. troops under foreign command and require that U.N.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is seeking proposals for the computerized units that will control the furnace astronauts on the International Space Station will use for materials research, and for a high-capacity recorder to store the data it generates.
Seven former secretaries of defense have urged President Clinton to keep the B-2 bomber in low-rate production beyond the 20 aircraft now planned, citing "fiscal and operational" arguments. Circulated by former New Jersey Republican congressman Jim Courter, now chairman of a group called The Committee for the Common Defense at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution in suburban Washington, the Jan. 4 letter was signed by Melvin Laird, James Schlesinger, Donald Rumsfeld, Harold Brown, Caspar Weinberger, Frank Carlucci and Dick Cheney.
South Korea's defense ministry has set up a development team to come up with an indigenous military training aircraft to replace about 100 existing aircraft by early next century, and the final schedule and build rate should be set by the end of this year. With capabilities somewhere between the Northrop F-5 and the Lockheed F-16-which South Korea is building under license thanks to the Korean Fighter Program (KFP)-the aircraft will be made entirely by "domestic manufacturers," the government says. But Lockheed will provide technical advice.
JOHN W. SANDFORD has rejoined Rolls-Royce Inc. as president and chief executive officer after a two-tear stint as managing director of the Rolls- Royce Aerospace Group. Sandford replaces George L. Davis, who is retiring.
Democratic staffs in House committees are being gutted, but things could be worse for the new minority party. In some cases Republicans have taken staff cuts out of the majority share. One example is the House Science Committee, where Democrats have been told they can keep 20 staffers, roughly the same number the Republicans had when they were the minority, despite a cut of more than 20% in the overall committee staff. The bad news: That still means more than 40 Democratic staffers are losing their jobs.
The Army's RAH-66 program office is likely to propose a "radically different" scout helicopter development program when it meets with Army acquisition chief Gilbert Decker this month, sources say. Decker has indicated that he's interested in creative ways around the program's OSD-mandated slowdown and the program office may have some ideas, including one to get more prototypes in the air earlier than now planned.
NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin re-affirmed his agency's commitment to build a new reusable launcher Friday, but his White House boss, who appeared with him before a congressional panel, wouldn't go so far. "We will have a new rocket," Goldin told the House Science Committee in its first hearing of the new Congress. "This rocket will be advanced technology. There are a bunch of people that are afraid of single-stage-to- orbit (SSTO). We are not afraid at NASA."
The draft roles and missions report, now scheduled to be finished by the end of February, may slip, Costello says. He acknowledges that the panel may have bitten off more than it can chew, but says he's "confident" the members will "do a meaningful report." The Army isn't likely to think much of the final recommendations, however, if they call for Army sacrifices. Costello says, "The Army hasn't found anything to give up. The Army thinks we've given our fair share...We are offering to help other people do stuff."
Rep. Lee Hamilton (Ind.), ranking Democrat on the House International Relations (Foreign Affairs) Committee, has called criticism of U.S. military readiness "overstated." "While I believe the combat readiness of our armed forces needs improvement," Hamilton said in remarks inserted in the Congressional Record on Wednesday, "I think comments about a 'hollow military' are overstated."
Republicans will hold a roughly two-to-one edge in the newly slimmed- down staff of the House Science Committee, sources said yesterday. Tentative plans are calling for the committee staff to be somewhere around 60, down from more than 80 in the past Congress. Sources said Republicans are expecting to fill around 40 of those slots and have allocated 20 to the Democrats. Republicans had 19 staffers on the panel at the time of the election, compared to more than 60 Democrats.
Mauritania has selected Harris Corp. for a $16 million domestic satellite communications network for the nation of 2 million in northwestern Africa. Harris Telecommunication Systems of Melbourne, Fla., won the contract for the first phase of a 20-year communications modernization program. Mauritania's Domestic Satellite Network will link the capital city, Nouakchott, with 11 regional centers, Harris said yesterday.
Tokyo Electron Limited, a Japanese trading company, has awarded Lockheed Sanders Information Systems Div. a $9.9 million contract to supply the Japan Air Self Defense force with a Patriot missile system Operator Tactics Trainer (OTT), the Lockheed unit reported. Under the contract Lockheed Sanders will also upgrade an earlier model Patriot OTT. Delivery of the new trainer, which allows an instructor to train eight student Patriot operators at a time, is set for January 1996.
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) was appointed chairman yesterday of the Senate Commerce science, technology and space subcommittee, a spokesman said. Burns is expected to make space issues a higher profile on the panel, which oversees NASA authorization along with the House Science Committee's space and aeronautics subcommittee. Burns also sees a tie-in between the space agency and high technology development efforts in Montana. A source said he has a "great relationship" with NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin (DAILY, Jan. 4, page 9).
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), Pleasanton, Calif., has won a $33.8 million contract to provide occupational safety, industrial hygiene and environmental services to NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. The five-year contract calls for Ames to provide day-to-day compliance support at Ames, including health and safety support, environment compliance support, hazardous waste disposal, emergency response and training.
Defense Secretary William Perry will avoid controversial topics and set a new agenda for defense relationships when he visits South Asia and the Middle East next week, a senior defense official told reporters during a Pentagon briefing yesterday.
First General Dynamics started divesting its "non-core" units, then LTV sold its aerospace and defense businesses, and then Northrop and Grumman merged. Now Lockheed and Martin Marietta-the Defense Dept.'s number two and three contractors-want to get married. So why, with so much consolidation activity in the aerospace industry, are there still four domestic helicopter makers? Is the rotorcraft industry blind to what's going on around it, or just more resistant to change?
The membership rolls of the House Intelligence Committee were completed yesterday when Democrats re-appointed seven members to the panel. Returning will be Rep. Norman Dicks (D-Wash.), who will serve as ranking minority member, and Reps. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), Julian Dixon (D-Calif.), Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), Ronald Coleman (D-Tex.), Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Greg Laughlin (D-Tex.).
With the blessing of Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch, the Navy will transfer its Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile (TSSAM) monies to the Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) program, sources said yesterday. Sources said that according to a Dec. 16 program decision memorandum designated PDM No. 4, which reflects the results of the Pentagon's recent modernization review, Deutch approved shifting about $46 million to SLAM to build about 30 more of the McDonnell Douglas missiles.
Hughes Aircraft Co. has received a contract potentially worth more than $9 million to supply a newly redesigned radar processor system for use at U.S. Coast Guard shore-based vessel traffic service facilities. The contract from the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Div. calls for Hughes to deliver HRP-2100 Naval Processor Systems, self- contained units which significantly improve the performance of standard commercial radars by providing automatic target extraction and tracking.
